Chapter 665: Chapter 665: Stacking Ritual Ingots_1
Alexander Summers walked over, picked up a piece of gold foil paper, and was just about to look at it when Atra Blanc slapped the back of his hand.
“Don’t touch things without washing your hands,” Atra chided.
With a sullen expression, Alexander withdrew his hand and asked, “Mom, why did you go out to buy these things when it’s sweltering outside?”
Bowing her head as she folded ritual ingots, Atra’s voice was indifferent, “Because I feel guilty towards Purple’s mother, so I bought some ingots to burn for her, to seek some peace of mind for myself.”
Alexander’s mouth twitched. Was he really that bad?
Purple looked at the thick stack of gold foil paper and couldn’t help asking, “Mom, how many ingots are you going to fold?”
“… Let my brother and me help you fold them,” Purple said cautiously, watching Atra’s mood, “If we fold together, it will be faster to finish.”
Atra paused her actions, thought for a moment, and nodded, “Come over and fold some, Purple, as a way to fulfill your filial piety.”
“I should also fulfill my filial duty, consider it a greeting to my mother-in-law,” Alexander added.
Atra suddenly stood up, her face turning white with anger, “You, you child… you have no sense of propriety in your speech! Can you joke about this?! I have wronged her enough, do you want to anger me to death!”
Alexander wanted to say he wasn’t joking; he truly regarded Meredith Richards as his mother-in-law, but, seeing Atra so infuriated, he closed his mouth and said no more.
Atra refused to let him touch the ingots, saying she feared that come the time to burn them, Purple’s mother would find them dirty and refuse to accept them.
So Alexander could only say, “Then I’ll cook, is that alright?”
He now dealt with Atra by cajoling, persuading, and somewhat coercing her, always taking what small victories he could without pushing too hard.
After sending Alexander away, mother and daughter folded the golden ingots together.
While folding, Atra said to Purple, “You were young before, and I never let you do these things. From now on, you need to learn to do them yourself. Every year when Tomb-Sweeping Day and the anniversary of her death come around, remember to burn ritual money and offer incense for your mother, else she’ll be too lonely down below.”
Atra had never hidden the truth about Meredith Richards from Purple.
When she first decided to adopt Purple, the old master had asked Atra, “The child is so young, why not just raise her as your own and spare her the knowledge that her mother died? How pitiful.”
But Atra had found it cruel.
Meredith had been willing to break with her family for that man. If even her daughter were to disown her, who would remember, in the future, that there had once been a person named Meredith Richards?
Atra hoped that after she herself died, someone would still remember Meredith Richards.
However, Atra’s painstaking efforts were not understood by little Purple. Little Purple only felt abandoned by the world, her personality becoming more and more twisted. Her reclusive and antagonistic nature led to her being bullied both at school and at home.
The bullying exacerbated her withdrawal, and in a vicious cycle, she eventually chose to give up on life.
Purple followed Atra, folding a full batch of 150 ritual ingots.
Most were folded by Atra, shining golden and looking very beautiful, but upon meeting fire, they turned quickly to ashes.
After burning the ingots, Atra told Purple to go back to the room and continued burning ritual money alone.
When Purple went back inside, she turned her head for a glance and saw Atra burning the paper while shedding tears, appearing deeply saddened.
Purple felt very uncomfortable inside, her guilt nearly overwhelming. She wanted to ask Alexander for clarity: why, in this second chance at life, had she been given such a vessel? Was it intentional, or just coincidence?
Leaning on her crutch, she walked slowly back into the house and saw Alexander coming towards her.
“Where’s Mom?” Alexander asked upon seeing her return alone.
Purple sighed and responded, “Mom is crying.”
Hearing this, Alexander wanted to go out and comfort her but was gently stopped by Purple.
“Don’t go,” Purple said softly, looking outside, “Let mom be alone for a while…”
Deep-rooted beliefs can’t be changed with a few words of coaxing. From here on, it was up to Atra to adapt.